The Black Body is the story of Anna Maria Gehnyei, also known as singer Karima 2G. Anna was born in Rome to Liberian parents. Wherever Anna goes in Rome, there is always something or someone to remind her that she is Black, so she finds herself continually negotiating two cultures, the Italian one which does not accept her and the African one to which she does not fully belong. Originally published in Italian as Il corpo nero, this new English-language translation by Eilis Kierans and Sandra Waters brings this moving memoir to an Anglophone audience for the first time.

The Twilight of Rome’s Papal Nobility is an intimate look at an ancient papal family who grew up accustomed to almost unimaginable wealth, power, and glamour. A tender elegy to a bygone era, this book offers a first-hand account of late nineteenth-century Italy’s social upheavals as the family’s vast private villa is divided up into public lands.

Headstrong art historian Leyla is expecting a baby with feckless computer technician Pablo. There’s only one problem: she can’t stand him. And one more problem: her student Michael wants Pablo for himself. But when the writings by utopian philosopher Tommaso Campanella unlocks the secret of a painting and a mystical gateway to 17th-century Naples, Leyla and Michael embark on a voyage of self-discovery in search of a new life.

This fresh take on the epistolary novel tells the story of a family through the disparate perspectives of a teenage daughter writing in her diary, a mother composing letters, and a grandmother speaking into a recorder. In turns heartbreaking and laugh-out-loud funny, it is a triumph of voice and style from one of Italy’s most renowned writers.

In Glory, Judas Iscariot finally tells his side of the story. From his perspective, Jesus is the betrayer, while Judas himself brought humanity a chance at redemption. Through Judas’s searing tortured monologues, this late masterpiece from one of Italy’s greatest writers investigates deep questions about the nature of faith, rebellion, fate, and free will.
 

Michele Campo is a speech pathologist living the high life in Naples. But when he begins to treat a poor foster child, he is forced to confront dark family secrets about his own rise from poverty. The award-winning When Things Happen tells a powerful story about memory, destiny, and class consciousness in one of Italy’s most divided cities.  

AntoloGaia offers a vivid first-hand account of the rise of the gay liberation movement in Italy, revealing how it was intimately intertwined with other forms of left-wing activism. Porpora Marcasciano conveys both the heartbreak of living through an era of institutionalized homophobia and the queer joy of encountering Italy’s unique gay and trans communities.

A tale of false accusations, social stigma, and adultery, The Outcast is an early masterwork from Nobel Prize–winning Italian author Luigi Pirandello. Combining elements of Zolaesque naturalism with emerging modernist aesthetics, the novel is notable for its deft use of irony and its resourceful and resilient heroine. 

In Islam and Me, Shirin Ramzanali Fazel tells her story of being a Somali immigrant in Italy and shares the experiences of other Muslim women in southern Europe. She reveals the common prejudices they encounter and explores how Italy might reimagine its national culture and identity to become more diverse, inclusive, and anti-racist. 

 

Tired of being scrutinized, criticized, and fetishized for her black skin, Cameroon-born scholar Geneviève Makaping turns the tables on Italy’s white majority, regarding them through the same unsparing gaze to which minorities are subjected.Reversing the Gaze offers a unique perspective on otherness and the work we must do to create a truly inclusive society. 

My Language Is a Jealous Lover bears witness to the frustrations, soul-searching, pain, and joys of embracing another tongue. Adrián N. Bravi weaves together his own experiences as an Argentinian-Italian with the stories of authors who lived and wrote between multiple languages, including Samuel Beckett, Vladimir Nabokov, Ágota Kristóf, and Joseph Brodsky.

An author receives a mysterious e-mail begging her to tell the story of Clare of Assisi, the thirteenth-century Italian saint. As she becomes captivated by this subversive figure, the author tells the inspirational story of Saint Claire, a visionary who liberated herself from the chains of materialism and patriarchy.